Travel with MC to Australia - WebLog

[Bifcus16]

Hi Joe,

Great to hear you survived the trip over and are enjoying yourself. No surprise that you enjoyed the Gold Coast, but if you get a chance the Sunshine coast is better (Noosa). Better beaches (without the strong rip), a bit more classy.

Gloria, in this part of the world rooms with a kitchen/kitchenette are fairly easy to get. I have never had a room in Oz without at least a bar sized fridge and a kettle. Kitchenette can mean just a fridge, sink, microwave and crockery/cutlery. Last time we were in the US we found it odd to have tea/coffee facilities in a shared area.

If I am staying somewhere for more than a night I always try to get a small apartment. This week I had a couple of nights in Melbourne for work, so I made sure I had a room with a full kitchen. Cost isn't a big difference - rooms vary so much anyway. I didn't actually make much use of my kitchen this trip, but it meant I had everything in case, and space for the 'backup food' I had brought along. In smaller country towns without many tourists you sometimes need to try a few places to get rooms with decent cooking facilities.

Next week, I am going to Cairns. And I have a full one bedroom apartment with what is supposed to be a proper kitchen. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Lyn

[Joefnh]

Gloria after reading Gabes posts, I would say comparatively while we both had long transits, Gabes trip by far was much more challenging than mine. Gabes was working more than full time and had to prep her foods in a hotel that did not have near the amenities or access to GF/SF foods that I have here. Basically I have a vacation in a English speaking (sort of ) country with many outlets for GF & SF foods.

When you travel you can look for hotels with a kitchenette, but that term can be misleading, call and check with the hotel before booking it, I also checked with the pictures online and in this case Gabes also had some valuable feedback. In some countries like here they also are listed as one bedroom apartments.

I cannot believe the beautiful scenery here, its great. I have been to Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne multiple times, even some on holiday. I had been to Brisbane on a few brief trips related to travel to Sydney, but had never had the chance to look around. This area is incredible.

--Joe

[Gabes-Apg]

Gloria

I dont see the ocean every day, Brisbane is on a river, on a coast that is protected by a heap of islands so there are no waves and the coastline in the brisbane area is quite muddy/swampy etc)

within 20 - 30 min drive you can see proper beach with sand etc. I agree with Lyn, Sunshine coast is my favourite (noosa, moolloolaba, caloundra) and there is a place at northern nsw called broken head, which is just south of byron.
before MC I used to go camping 'on the beach' every couple of months.

If TK and I go away, we go to the sunshine coast and get a self catering apartment.

which brings me to the next point, i have found it is quite easy to get accommodation that is 'self catering' or has kitchenette. you sometimes pay a little bit more, and generally you have to stay a minimum of 3 nights. In off peak season you can luck out and get them for two nights.
this was the same overseas, best way to find them is google the location name and self catering apartment
the kitchen set up is pretty basic, but there is enough to prepare MC staples.

travelling and eating out in Australia is 300 times easier than what i experienced in France. as per lyns post on her degusation meal stated, the acceptance of multiple intolerances is quite good, the range of products for multiple intolerance is quite large, and their accessibility quite good

[harma]

another great traveling with MC tip, make sure you stay in an apartment or a hotel room with kitchenette. Maybe it cost a bit more, but how much money we save with preparing all the food our selves?

[Joefnh]

This post is being written while on top of Mount Coot-Tha near Brisabne. The weather is about as perfect as you could imagine and the scenery from up here is incredible. I will attach a picture later.

Well as this trip comes to an end tomorrow AM I have to say it has been an excellent and eye opening trip. Thanks to Gabes and all on this site for helping out and providing encouragement. As I have stated before last April I was worried about whether I would be able to return to work, and now I has undertaken a trip half way around the world. What a difference.

Overall the most amazing and surprising part of the trip was the visit to Shauno Price, the acupuncturist that Gabes has been going to for quite a while with excellent results.

Now I would have to say while I was intrigued at the possibility of this type of treatment helping me with my symptoms, I went into this part of my 'adventure' as an optimistic skeptic. On Friday I went in for my first treatment and first was more than impressed with Shaun; he is an incredibly knowledgeable practitioner who has studied this topic for over 10 years and has completed several post doctorate studies in this field. Being an academic, this made me feel somewhat better. For the most part western medicine has not employed this type of treatment alongside 'conventional' medicine.

Although before we totally dismiss this type of treatment, Harvard Medical School is currently working with over 500 practitioners throughout the US and has favorably published the results of hundreds of cases in several medical journals over the past 5 years, and currently continues a partnership with over 100 practitioners in the northeast part of the US.

My key complaints that day was a fair amount of joint pain in my hips and lower back and foot pain due to muscle spasms on my right foot. This started just after the flight and typically can take about 10 - 12 days to get those symptoms to settle down once they have started. My GI system was not doing too badly during this first treatment so I could not assess the results for treating GI symptoms from Fridays visit.

I spent about 90 minutes with Shaun who was very patient with all of my questions and proceeded to treat several area of my body with the goal of reducing my lower back, hip and foot pain. I believe about 15 needles were used during this session and I did not feel any of them. Shaun was very careful to keep asking questions, testing and retesting the areas that was being treated and its effect.

At the end of the session my lower back and hip pain were 90% better and my foot pain was totally gone. To say the least I was pleasantly surprised. If you had told me 6 months ago that I was going to Australia and would be trying acupuncture, I would have asked you to contact your doctor LOL...

Its Monday afternoon and I am getting ready to go for my last session with Shaun and I am happy to report that the lower back pain has been minimal (about 66%) and the foot pain is non-existent . I am having some modest GI symptoms with cramping and pain that started last night. Again I curious if this can be treated.

More to follow... I am about to go get needled again

--Joe

[Linda in BC]

Wow, Joe, that is so cool that you were able to get in to see Gabes acupuncturist! Hearing her talk about him, I thought "I wish I could go to him, too". And here you are, doing just that!! Isn't this forum and the internet amazing. It sure does shrink the world. I am gobsmacked! And so pleased that you have had good results.

I hope your return flight is uneventful and enjoyable,

Linda

[Gabes-Apg]

Linda
i wish all the PP family could have treatments from shauno!

he doesnt claim to cure you, the treatments deal with treating the whole of body type symptoms, reduce/eliminate inflammation and make sure the blood flow in the body is as it should be.

In the scenerio of MC where the symptoms have highs and lows depending on triggers (noting that everyone has different triggers) i use the acupuncture treatments to keep things balanced, reduce inflammation if it is there, keep my adrenals and immunity optimised in their performance. Like the diet changes majority of us have adopted, acupuncture is a gradual process, for something like MC you cant have 3 treatments and 'she'll be right mate'.

budget wise, i can afford to go to appointments fortnightly.

[barbaranoela]

Joe-----thanks a million for gathering the post cards---Deb;s friend will be sooooo Xcited~~~~~


And a continued wonderful trip===

Luve Barbara

[Gloria]

Very interesting, Joe. You have looked at accupuncture from a slightly different perspective than Gabes because you had (it sounds like) joint and/or muscle pain. I'm happy that you found it relieved most of it. I've never tried accupuncture - I think I would have approached it like you did, hopeful, but not expectant.

Gloria

[Linda in BC]

Gabes, I actually did acheive remission for 6 months. from about 6 or 8 acupuncture treatments, along with heat lamp and moxa, and by taking black cohosh. Unfortunately, I moved far away from my Chinese acupuncturist, and the one in my new town was not effective at all.

Linda

[starfire]

Joe,

I just want to say thank you for sharing your trip. It's a very enjoyable thread. Glad things have gone so well for you.

Love, Shirley

[Mars]

What a delightful thread!! It has been a pleasure to read and has kept me entertained throughout! I look forward to more pictures - they are breathtaking!

I hope your return trip has less hiccups and you have a relaxing flight/s home!

Hugs,
Mars

[MaggieRedwings]

HI Joe and All,

I want to second what Mars said!! This has been an exciting and beautiful travelogue and I feel I have traveled there with you and also with Gabes when she went away.

Thanks for giving me some sanity and wonderful stories of your travels.

Love, Maggie

[Joefnh]

Thanks all for the responses. I am in leg 3 of 4 for the return flights. Currently at 35,000 feet somewhere over the Rockies. There were a few minor hiccups so far, but no missed flights. I am looking forward to getting home to my own bed and to see Nestle. I'm sure I will be kissed for about an hour. She goes crazy after being away for a while, she turns into Velcro dog

Gabes and I had a very nice meeting yesterday at a pleasant outdoor cafe in the early evening, we had a nice chance to talk and catch up with our discussions. It was amazing the amount of knowledge that Gabes has amassed on the issue of MC and other GI problems and has also been quite helpful in helping plan some of the local aspects of the trip to Brisbane.

Gabes may have started another problem though, in introducing me to GF Tim Tams. Those are an incredible Aussie chocolate cookie. I have brought back several boxes to enjoy in the states I will have to be careful in that they do have soy which I can only tolerate in small quantities. I am planning on seeing if my local health food store would want to stock these. they do stock other items form this manufacturer



Last night before departing Brisbane I did get a chance to have my second session with the acupuncturist Shauno Price at which time he continued to treat the areas related to the lower back pain and hip joint pain and also added treatments to help with GI cramping tat I was experiencing that day.

I have noticed that the hip joint pain tends to be coupled with CC activity.

Again I would like to state that I have never tried anything like this before, but I will have to say the effects are quite real and beneficial. While treating areas on the right foot and shin I could quite quickly feel the GI cramping come to a stop, it was amazing. Another issue was my heart rate which was up a bit and amazingly with just a few meridian points worked on, I could rapidly feel my heart rate drop form a abnormal high of ~ 110 down to 70 my normal resting rate in about 1 minute. That was a bizarre sensation.

My impression is that after each of the 2 sessions, I was relaxed and even somewhat tired. I did sleep exceptionally well and pain free after both sessions.

During my return trip today my GI cramping symptoms have been quite minimal if any and certainly my hip joints and lower back pain are 90% gone. More importantly no pain pills required.

Overall my early summary of this type of treatment is that first it is not painful at all, and that the effects in dealing with GI pain and cramping are quite real and beneficial. Additionally working with my hip joints, and other areas of lower back pain was quite effective. As a management tool to help with some of the symptoms of MC I found this type of treatment to very beneficial.

I plan on finding a local practitioner in the Boston area in the next week or so to continue to explorer the potential benefits. While this is not a cure for MC , it certainly offers significant relief from some of the symptoms related to MC. I plan on continuing to evaluate this treatment with the goal of improving my overall quality of life and to lower or eliminate the need for any pain or other medication.

Thanks again to all on this site for your help and support and to Gabes for all her local Brisbane planning and of course the introduction to Shauno.

I will post some more images and a summary travel write-up within a few days after I get a chance to rest some.

Thanks again!

--Joe

[JoAnn]

Hi Joe, It was so fun and inspiring to read about your trip. I hope you've arrived home safely and have been reunited with Nestle. I've considered accupuncture for quite a while now and I think you've convinced me to try it. Thanks for sharing your trip, JoAnn